Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Lena’s party was going strong. The house was lit up, people were mingling out on the front porch, and I could hear the music booming even from the street. Almost everyone was dressed up and, of course, drinking. I also smelled the pungent scent of weed somewhere nearby. Parked in a neighbor’s driveway was a campus cop car, lights off and the officers nowhere to be seen.
I scanned the street as I made my way over, fear still gripping me tight as if I hadn’t escaped Emery at all. As if he was still close by. I wouldn’t be safe until I was halfway across the state all the way into Canada. Everywhere else didn’t feel far enough or safe enough.
As soon as I walked into the living room where people hung out on the couches, playing video games, I saw Lena and Jamie just outside on the patio talking with two officers. Upon seeing me, Jamie opened the sliding door and made straight for me.
We hugged each other without even saying hello, my hand trembling as I gripped the faded suit he wore as a costume. He had painted himself in gray and blue makeup, his eyes shaded in black, making him look like a dead man or a zombie.
“You okay?” he asked, searching my face.
I nodded, even though I wasn’t. “I can’t stay, Jamie, if he finds me…”
“I know. But it’s okay. We got the cops here, they agreed to stick around to talk, but…”
I glanced at the officers who now turned to study me as Lena tried to talk with them. “What?”
“We called them specifically to tell them you were in danger. After fifteen minutes of questioning, they finally agreed to come. But now they’re interrogating Lena and giving off that ‘party’s over’ vibe. Half the people left already when they showed up. It’s bullshit.”
I gazed around and noticed the place seemed less crowded than usual. And I saw more people leaving out the patio gate. I wanted to feel sorry for Lena, for all of them, for putting them through any of this. But I knew if I tried to apologize, they would hear none of it.
“They wanna talk to you,” he said, “just to get an idea of the situation.” He led me back out to the patio. I saw the worry on Lena’s face as the officers turned on me.
“You Eve?” one officer, a large man with a reddish beard, asked, his eyes looking back at me suspiciously. His badge read Cormin .
“Yes,” I said.
“They said you were at a different party and someone attacked you?”
“That’s right.”
He shifted, putting his hand on his belt. “You think he followed you here?”
A shiver went through me. “I don’t know.” Now that the officer brought it up, I was growing paranoid again, shifting my eyes toward the patio gates to the dark street beyond.
“Have you been drinking or done any drugs at all?”
“No.”
He studied my face as if not totally convinced. “Has this man been following you for a while?”
“Just tonight.”
“What does he look like?”
I closed my eyes and started to laugh. I placed my hand over my face as if to hide my embarrassment. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” he repeated.
“He’s changed. I don't know for sure. But he’s very large. He has dark auburn brown hair and yellow eyes.”
“Yellow eyes?”
I swallowed. “Maybe like a golden hazel. He’ll be wearing a red or silver skull mask. That’s all I can tell you.”
“So you know him?”
It took me a moment to answer. “Yes, I know him.”
“He an ex-boyfriend then? You two have a bad fight or something?”
“N-no, not exactly.”
“Um, more like hell no, this guy is crazy,” Lena finally blurted. “He’s a damn serial killer. He wants her dead.”
The two officers looked at us each like we were a bunch of stupid kids messing with them. The other officer, a thinner man with short buzzed hair, looked a little annoyed.
“He wants you dead?” Cormin asked.
I nodded, feeling my throat tightening.
“Do you have anywhere safe you can go?”
“We have a friend who works with the feds and he’s on his way,” Jamie said. “He can get her somewhere.”
The officer nodded. “Alright. We’ll have someone come out and check up on you in an hour or two.”
“Wait, you guys aren’t staying?” Lena said.
“We have to be readily available for any occurrences on campus, and trust me, there’s a lot. You're not the only one whose party we have to show up to, Lena,” Cormin said.
“Yeah, well you didn’t get called here for a noise complaint this time, you got called because there’s a psycho on the loose and my friend needs to be protected,” she snapped.
“You said you have a friend on the way who can take her somewhere safe. Stay inside for now and lock the doors. Keep a lookout for anyone suspicious. If anyone tries to get in, you can call us right away.” They moved toward the sliding door. Lena wheeled toward me and Jamie.
“Guess it’s a good thing I got my brother’s revolver since I can’t count on these assholes,” she murmured to me.
They left, and Lena warned her roommates and their friends that if they let anyone in or left without locking the door after, she would see to it they would be kicked out of the house and never allowed back.
By then a lot more people left, more worried about facing Lena’s wrath than some unknown danger in the night. As Jamie rechecked every inch of the house, Lena brought me into her room. I sat on her bed, trying to calm myself, even though all I wanted to do was bolt out of the house and run. I felt jumpy, skittish, every little noise making my heart jolt in my chest. Lena wheeled over to her drawer next to the bed and opened the lowest shelf, taking out a lock box.
“Do you know how to use one of these?” she said, placing the box on the bed beside me and opening it to reveal the gun she had hidden away.
“I took lessons some years ago,” I said, feeling queasy at the thought of aiming it at Emery and pulling the trigger.
“Well, that’s better than me. My brother only ever took me once when he gave me this thing. Didn’t think I’d ever need to use it.”
I started to pace, panicked. “I need to get out of here, Lena,” I said. “I feel trapped, I feel like I’m putting you in danger just being here. I should just go.”
“Like hell you are,” Lena argued. “Eve, you can’t go out there alone. Just wait a little longer for Liam.”
“I don’t need him to do this, I can hide myself.”
“Where?”
I stopped pacing. Really, I didn’t know. I couldn’t go back to my apartment; I couldn’t stay here. There was only one other place I could think of, but only because I figured it would be the last place he would ever look.
My old family house was far enough out of the way from everyone and was gated. It had been sitting vacant and locked up ever since the night of the killings. But it was secure. Maybe if I—
There was a sudden loud popping sound from somewhere outside, and I jumped, backing away so I couldn’t be seen from the window.
Lena wheeled over and peeked out. “Just fireworks. I swear every holiday, no matter what it is, the OZ house is lighting them off.”
I rubbed a hand over my eyes.
“Hey, why don’t you change, get comfy,” Lena said, “or at least put on something you can run and get dirty in. In case, you know….”
I dropped my hand and glared at her.
“Bad joke, sorry.” She smirked.
I started to laugh quietly. “This is really fucked up, isn’t it?” I rubbed a hand over my mouth. “Yeah, I should get dressed and ready to go.”
There was a knock at the door. “It’s me,” Jamie called.
“Come in,” answered Lena as she moved over to her dresser. Jamie opened the door but only peeked his head in.
“Liam is ten minutes away, better start packing.”
“I’ll get a few things,” Lena said. “Eve, your clothes from earlier are on the desk there.”
Jamie disappeared as I took off my shoes. I set my phone on the dresser, then started to slip the dress off me. There was another knock on the door, more urgent than before.
“Lena,” April called. “Lena, can you come out for a second? There’s someone at the door and they wanna come in.”
I froze, my body tensing up all over again. I locked eyes with Lena and I knew she could see the anxiety on my face.
“Who?” she called back.
“I don’t know, some chick and her guy.”
She cursed under her breath. “I’ll go check. Just stay in here and I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Yeah…okay,” I said uncertainly. I got the door for her and April was waiting outside. She helped push her along down the hall. I shut the door and dressed quickly, my hands trembling. I looked for my bag and realized I left it in the car. I needed another xanax bad. I felt hot and cold all at once, sweat trickling down my breasts and yet I kept shivering. I took slow deep breaths and forced myself out of Lena’s room into the bathroom opposite. I washed my face and neck letting the cool water slip down my shirt. I felt my stomach twist in knots as I took a sip of water. I wanted to ask someone to go out to my car but at the same time I didn’t want anyone to leave the house. Any minute Liam would be here and I’d ask to get my bag before we left. It was going to be fine, we were going to go and get out of dodge and maybe they’d find Emery before he could find me. It was going to be fine.
As I came out into the hall to return to Lena’s room, I noticed people speaking in the living room and heard someone crying.
“Nathan swears he saw this guy start the fire,” a girl said, clearly upset. “I told him not to go after the guy, but he had been drinking and he goes all alpha male, you know.” She cried softly, then continued, “Elijah went too and I didn’t know what to do so I called 911.”
“Are you sure the fire wasn’t an accident?” Jamie asked in a low voice. “Maybe one of the OZ’s fireworks?”
“I-I don’t know. I didn’t see but they swore they did. They saw him. They went to confront him and…Oh god,” she moaned. “He smashed Elijah's head into the window of a car, glass all in his face. Then he grabbed Nathan and I’m sure he broke his arm. He hardly moved and he just broke it. Then he came after me and James and—and we were just so fucking scared we ran for it. James said he knew you were having a party and you were the closest so…”
I stood there in the dark hallway, unable to move. I heard Lena speak next.
“Did someone call about the fire?”
I turned toward the window in Lena’s room, I quickly went over to it and looked out.
I saw a dull orange in the distance, and I could hear sirens from far away, growing closer. As I opened the window a crack, I heard shouts and screams nearby and smelled the stink of smoke.
“It’s the OZ house,” Jamie said behind me from the door.
I stared out into the night, searching wildly. Then I whirled around and moved past him out into the hall and into the living room where everyone was sitting.
“What did he look like?” I asked the girl sitting in her cat costume, eyeliner smudged from her tears. The guy beside her in a batman costume was quiet.
“Eve,” Lena started.
“Tell me!” I shouted. I couldn’t help it. I was on edge, ready to crack. No, I already was.
The girl shook her head, more tears forming. “H-he looked like…” She turned her eyes away from mine to the patio door. Her face went ashen and her mouth opened wide, letting out an ear-shattering scream as she lunged off the couch.
We all turned toward the slide-in door. There he stood, a hulking shadow in the dark, his red skull face smiling at us. In his hand was a hammer. He threw his arm back and sent the hammer into the glass, shattering it into a thousand pieces that exploded into the room.
I shielded my eyes from the glass as I heard the others scream.
“Eve, run!” Jamie shouted.
I did. I went for the stairs, seeing them first. I ran up them, two at a time.
Halfway, I felt a vice grip on my ankle, dragging me down while sweeping me off my feet, my chin hitting one of the steps, cutting me open.
Jamie jumped him, hitting his fist across his back and head. Emery was hardly fazed, but he did let me go to turn and grab Jamie, throwing him into a wall.
“No!” I cried as Jamie collapsed to the ground. I scrambled to my feet and pushed my legs up the stairs as Emery turned back to me.
As he started to climb, his heavy boots thudding up each step, I flew into another small community room, cups and beer cans everywhere and the TV playing Scream . Lena’s roommates and friends must have fled or hidden because there was nobody as I reached for the sliding balcony door.
I fumbled for the lock, a whimper rising in my throat. I unlatched the door and slid it open just enough to get through, breaking out into the chill night air.
I slammed into the balcony railing and looked back as he opened the door wider. Panicked and terrified, I flung myself over the rail and dangled over the edge. He lunged and tried to grab me, but I let go before he could.
The sudden impact on the patio was jarring. I buckled and fell on my knees, my hands catching me before my face could hit the concrete. Broken glass from the patio door cut into my hands and feet.
For some idiotic reason, I thought Emery would disappear, looking to go back down the stairs and come get me, giving me time to get away or hide. Obviously, I’d watched too many horror flicks to assume that, because, as I struggled to my feet, pain searing into my skin, he jumped, landing on his feet next to me as if it had been no issue at all.
I cursed myself for being so stupid.
Emery took hold of my arm and then pulled me up. I caught the flash of red and blue coming down the back street, and I opened my mouth to scream. Emery slammed his hand across my mouth, cutting me off. He picked me up off my feet and hauled me inside. I bit his hand as he moved to one wall so as not to be seen from the outside. The cop car flew past not even slowing, making its way toward the fire down the road. I struggled and fought in his grip but his hold was like steel.
“Hey, asshole, let her go!”
As Emery turned, twisting me around like a doll with him, I caught Lena positioned by the stairs, revolver in her hand.
“That’s right, don’t move or I’ll—”
Emery moved. He dropped me and put himself between me and Lena. Lena took a shot as he came at her, the bullet grazing the side of his arm. Emery grabbed the gun but when he tried to wrench it from her, she didn’t let go. She took another shot, the second time hitting the light above, then she fell from her chair, crying, as she curled on the ground, holding her injured legs. She lost her grip and the gun clattered to the floor.
I lunged for it, despite the pain. Emery kicked the gun away where it slid under a cabinet. I scrambled away as he came for me again.
I somehow managed to get on my feet and run, searing pain shooting up my legs with each step. I headed into the kitchen where there was another side door leading outside. I spotted a knife on the table and grabbed it as I whirled around and found Emery behind me.
Panting, I aimed the knife toward him as I backed into the side door, hands wet with blood as I tried the knob.
I swiped at him as he got closer, going for anything. But he was too quick. He caught my arm and pulled me in. He picked me up and, in one fluid motion, dropped me onto the kitchen table, plates crashing onto the floor as my back hit the wood surface.
With ease, he slid me to the edge, putting his hulking weight on me and pinning my hips with his. He tore the knife from me, then grabbed my hair in his fist, pulling it loose. He aimed the knife at my head, and as he brought the blade down, I let out a sharp gasp, feeling like my soul was leaving my body before I could feel the searing pain of steel into flesh. Instead, I only felt the tight yank at my scalp as the blade penetrated the wood just above my head and he wrapped the rest of my hair around the knife, making sure I couldn’t move.
He forced my wrists above my head and the knife, arms outstretched.
I stopped struggling then. I was trapped underneath him, forced to face him, his skull face looking at me with eyes cold as death.
Breathless, I faced that unseeing glare, feeling blood trickling down my chin, blood on my hands, on my feet. Even if I kept running or fighting, he would burn the whole neighborhood down to get to me. More would suffer, more would get hurt. My friends already had been.
He didn’t say a word, he just watched me, waiting for me to surrender, to let go. To accept the inevitable. That I was his now. His to bend and break and tear apart until there was nothing left of me.
But if I had to go, I’d do it my way. Fearless.
At the corner of my eye, I saw movement in the pantry closet. I pretended to try and tear my hair from the knife to look over. I saw April there, her mouth covered. Emery didn’t notice her since I was his focus.
He had me and he was taking in his victory. Relishing in the fact he’d caught me.
But maybe that was his downfall. He had me but he had run out of time too. I could hear the sirens all around. Liam could come any moment, armed to the teeth. If Emery didn’t leave with me now, he might lose his chance.
April whimpered from the pantry and Emery finally broke my gaze to look over. No, don’t look at her. Look at me. Don’t hurt her too.
I licked my lips, tasting blood. “Emery,” I whispered, hoping to distract him.
He slowly turned to me, his head tilting as if me calling his name sounded strange to his ears. As if it might be far away.
“Please, Emery, your sister wouldn’t want this.” I thought maybe mentioning her would get him to listen but that didn’t seem to work at all. His head tipped up to look toward the door.
My hips against his were starting to hurt, his weight heavy and warm—too warm. I tried to shift under him. I moved against him, pressing into him to somehow lift him up with me but he was too damn heavy, too solid, too strong.
I moved my hips again and something flickered in his gaze—awareness, acknowledgement. Something primal. Yes, I had his full attention now.
I pressed myself into him harder and felt his body change, felt him go still, heard his hiss of breath through the mask. He tried to hide his reaction, but I felt him grow hard between my thighs, felt his stomach clench. Moving slow, so slow, his eyes drew downward to watch me grind against him. I refused to acknowledge that my body was starting to react too, that I was aching, and even growing wet. I was fucking terrified, and still my body was lighting up as I ground myself against his cock. But I put it from my mind, trying to keep him here. Because once he took me that was the end, no one would find me, not in time, I knew he would make sure of it.
“Emery…” I breathed. I swiveled my hips, and in turn, his hand let go of my wrists to slide down my arm, then around my throat, but not to squeeze…no, not yet, just to settle it there, cupping firmly. I arched my back, knowing I had him. I placed my hands on his arm that held my throat. Then I brought them to the sides of his face to bring him closer. Carefully, I lifted his mask, lifted it above his head so I could see him.
It was like a beautiful portrait that someone had carved into and desecrated. One scar cut across his cheek and curved upward, another along his jawline up to his ear, another across one eyebrow. It seemed his whole face had been marred and I could only speculate who had done it and why.
Had it been my father before he’d let him go? Or my uncle as some awful punishment?
He glared at me. Exposing his face hardly affected him. I felt his hips move a little almost uncertainly, as if unsure this was really happening or if he was in one of his dreams and he needed confirmation. Him moving with me made the breath still in my lungs, and I didn’t dare let the moan escape my lips even for a second. With trembling fingers, I went to touch his face, to bring him back. Maybe I really could bring him back…
My fingers grazed his cheek, and he jolted back so quickly and so violently that I yelped as he lifted himself off me, sliding the table back as he pushed himself away. The spell was broken. April screamed from the closet at his sudden movement and bolted out of the kitchen. Emery didn’t even look her way. He yanked his mask down, then wrenched the knife out of the table and out of my hair, tearing one small lock away. He took my wrists again and pulled me off the table, dragging me from the kitchen and out the side door.
“No! No!” I cried, trying to get out of his grip as he locked an arm around my waist and hauled me to the backyard. As we came around the corner, he halted, crushing me into him. The knife went to my throat and I hissed. I looked around, wide-eyed, and whimpered as I saw Liam there by the gate, gun pointed right at Emery, his eyes looking down the barrel.
“Let her go,” he ordered.
Emery didn’t loosen his grip. He dragged me along as he creeped around the side of one fence, like a big cat, stalking. Liam moved too, keeping his gun aimed at Emery’s head.
Even if Liam pumped him full of lead, Emery would keep going. He’d kill Liam right in front of me, maybe even with me still under his arm while he stabbed Liam in the throat. The terror of witnessing that made me call out.
“Liam, just get back,” I said in a shaky voice. “Please, he’ll kill you.”
He didn’t move, his finger itching on the trigger.
Emery’s face was close to mine as he lifted me up on my toes, blade pressed to my neck. He continued to move along, forcing Liam to move away from the gate and into the center of the yard.
“You're not taking her, motherfucker,” he said. “You're done. I have a whole patrol coming. You're done, so just let her down.”
Emery didn’t let me go.
Liam’s jaw clenched as Emery’s knife inched along my throat in warning. I hissed, tensing. I shut my eyes, waiting to feel my throat be cut open, to feel warm blood spilling.
I felt Emery begin to back away. I opened my eyes and saw him back out of the gate, ready to slip into the night.
Liam took a step, and I cried out. “Don’t.” I trembled against Emery. Maybe it would be better to die like this but I still wasn’t ready. And some small part of me still had hope that this didn’t have to be the end. Emery wanted it his way, he wanted me to disappear with him. And wherever that was, someone might still be able to find me.
The way he had reacted to me in the kitchen awakened that little hope, that drive. I could still fight. But not if Liam didn’t put his gun down and…
“Let me go,” I whispered, and Emery shifted, his hold tightening as if he thought I was talking to him, as if he was a child being asked to give up his favorite toy. But I looked straight at Liam and said it again, “Let me go.”
Liam watched me for a moment, his gaze turning toward the knife against me, ready to slice me wide open. Slowly, he lowered his gun. “I’ll find you, I promise.”
The sirens were getting closer, but not fast enough. I stopped struggling, and Emery knew the fight was done. He backed out through the gate until Liam was out of sight.
Swiftly, he lifted me, throwing me over his shoulder, holding my legs firmly as the rest of me dangled behind him. Without a word, he moved on down the narrow back road, disappearing into the night.